Saturday, January 12, 2013

Children's Book Festival!

Awesome!

That is the word for today, awesome.

As you gentle readers know, the festival was today. I feel overwhelmed with gratitude to Isa Ventura and all those dedicated volunteers whom set up and put on the Festival. It was an honor to be invited and I can't wait to do it again in 2014!

It was wonderful. I got to visit with Lisa Mangum and Jessica Day George again. I've met them before at two prior book signings and it's always good to talk with them and share experiences and advice.

Lisa brought it to my attention that there is a Teen Writers' Conference that my Kate might like. Jessica gave me advice on why and how I should get compensation for school visits, thoughts on writing and why resubmitting Night Children to agents and publishers would be a great idea. Even advice on how vampires might not be a total turn off to agents. I might need to message her on Facebook about that subject again in the future.

I've read and enjoyed two of Lisa's books and plan to read the third in her Hourglass Door series. My daughter Katelyn has all of her books. Meanwhile, Jessica has continued to fan the flame in my daughter Laura's book collection. She loves Jessica's books and is eager to read the the current one. I've decided to put her dragon books on my reading list. I need to read about more dragons. My dragon girl Lyndi commands it.

I also met author Tyler Whitesides. He's the author of Janitors, a book that is beloved by kids and readers all over and looks extremely interesting. I'm going to read and review it after I finish Ender's Game. I really enjoyed our conversations and would love to continue. But life is busy so you visit when you can. It's good to come across other authors whom you share similar views and ideals with.

At the Festival we had a chance to meet many, many kids who love reading. This is the BEST part of the author's experience! So many wonderful kids who are excited about reading and writing. The kids were given tee shirts which I gladly signed. It was incredible, chatting and laughing with so many excited kids!

I got interviewed by Tooele TV! I've never been interviewed before and I can't wait till it broadcasts. I'll keep you posted when it does.

I want to post a grateful thanks to Tyler from the Standsbury High ROTC. He was assigned as my assistant. I've never had an assistant before. I'll tell you right now I did not send him off on evil errands or act like some premadona. If anything I worried I didn't have anything for him to do. But I eventually did need some back up and he sure helped!

Brandon and the crew of Starry Night Books were there and once again backed me up. They featured my books and were incredibly helpful to me and my wife throughout this great experience.

And speaking of my wife, as always she was (and is) my rock. My long suffering wife ran errands, made sure the books were where they were needed, explained them, spoke with so many and even suggested to Tyler Whitesides to come visit Starry Night Books. She brought the kids and bought them copies of all three authors' books. She spoke with Jessica about whether I should resubmit to agents and publishers and what is the proper method for visits to schools. Janeen was incredible and once again, I'd be lost without her.

So the Children's Book Festival was AWESOME! I've been invited back for next year and I can't wait to do it again!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Bite of Story Thursday

Here is a sneak peek at my current work in progress, Myths. This is from the rough draft so it does not reflect the final product. Enjoy!

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Myths
Chapter Eleven : Deadlands


After once again throwing his axe into a mass of goblins, Heilgar simply raised his arm expectantly.  Eli hadn’t seen him pick it up the last time he threw it so the elf was surprised to see the shiny silver weapon tear through the crowd like it had a mind of its own until it flew into its master’s waiting hand.

“How’d you do that?” Eli asked as he pushed the retrieval button on his quiver.  Five arrows shot back to him.  In one fluid movement, Eli grabbed the shafts in midair, aimed and shot them at new targets.  “I had to have a recovery spell put on my quiver, you too?”

“Something similar,” the dwarf replied as he cut through more attackers.  “We have a dwarf shaman in our city that knows a trick or two.”

Eli pulled an arrow with a particular tip and let it fly into a mound of oncoming monsters.  It erupted into a burst of flame.  The creatures screamed as fire engulfed them.  He could feel Celeste’s disapproval in his head but this was war. 

He pushed down any guilt that tried to crawl to the surface.  “Huh,” he said to the dwarf, “I thought dwarves hated magic.  Maybe they can hold their own in a fight after all.”

“What?” Heilgar’s hairy mouth dropped and he almost missed an oncoming goblin.  “How dare you question my nations’ battle skills?  We don’t need magic like you scrawny, hairless sticks do.  We only use it on rare occasions because any helpful weapon is still a weapon.”  He hit a goblin on the head with the hilt of his axe.

“Fair enough,” Eli responded with a smile.  “Let’s put it to a test.”  He downed another group of goblins on his right.  “I have no clue how many I’ve taken out so far but how about we keep score from this point.  That was five... no six to your one.”

Heilgar spun around, slicing multiple goblins that tried to surround him.  “I’d never engage in such foolishness.  And now I’m at seven.”


Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Zombies

ZOMBIES




I found this pic on the web. No clue who did it. If you have any idea, please let me know.

Physical characteristics:
Most are slightly stronger than humans but their bodies are rotting away. They seem to possess limited intelligence which allows for broken speech, slow movement and the desire to search out victims for food.

What they are:
Through dark magic, the bodies of the deceased can be reanimated to serve a dark master. Most zombies are brain dead and only live to serve their master or feast on the living. They can be easily destroyed with fire and can be ripped by creatures that are stronger. Silver effects them as well.